And Tango Makes Three was written by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. It was illustrated by Henry Cole and published by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers in 2005.
Roy and Silo are gay penguins. They love each other very much but they realize that they can’t have babies... so their keeper gives them an egg for them to hatch.
Usually when I select picture books at the library to read and review, I pull them out at random, judging them mostly by their covers. Once I got to about page nine of this book, my eyebrows went up when I realized where this story was taking me. GAY PENGUINS!
I recall this story when it was big news. I didn’t think too much of it since I’m from Vancouver (there’s a pretty big gay population over here). I was trying to imagine how the conservative States in America would’ve reacted to a book like this.
Well, I looked things up on Wikipedia and lo and behold, the book has been banned in quite a few States.
I can’t really see the big deal about a book about gay penguins. Some people just have to realize that these things happen.
The book itself is very well written. I thought the book “flowed” a little too well and I’m guessing that’s because a playwright co-authored it. Some sentences/words are repeated for dramatic effect. The illustrations are all well done but the eyes and smiles of the penguins look a bit comical...
Well, I never thought I would be reading such a “controversial” book today. This might be a good book to read to your children if you are interested in letting them know that some people prefer their own gender/sex.
